Morning Stretches
by Arisprite
Summary: In Which Greed Reluctantly Helps Ed Out, Ed Grumbles About It, and Ling Just Laughs At Both of Them. A day in the life during that camping trip on the run. Rated T because of Greed's mouth.


The kid's groaning was louder than normal. It was early-ish. Darius and Heinkel must have been in the military or something, because they always started moving _way_ earlier than any decent human, chimera or homunculus should. Greed was sitting in the sun, because, hello, warmth was hard to come by this far North, and wishing he was back in bed where the hard little pillow of his stolen bedroll could muffle the sound of Edward whining about his joints like he was seventy instead of seventeen. He raised his cup of coffee to his lips, and loftily ignored him.

Ling however, observing from inside Greed's head like always, _was_ interested in knowing why Ed was moaning. Greed could care less. Ed complained every morning. They both did, to some extent or another. Neither Greed nor Ed were morning people, unlike their bossy travelling companions.

Not that Darius, Heinkel _or_ Ed were the boss. He was. In every other moment than when the bedroll was warm (er) and he only wanted to stay in it. But his brain (and Ling) would say that tactically it was better to rise early and move, than risk an ambush. Then, Darius was able to drag him out of the blankets without getting decapitated, and Heinkel was able to get close enough to hand him a cup of coffee without losing an arm...ah, mornings.

Coffee was essential though.

Ed was swearing, with one leg bent, and both hands planted on it. He seemed to be attempting to stand up without pain, but if the winces were anything to go by, he wasn't managing it too well. Ling twitched in concern.

"_What's wrong with Ed, I wonder?"_ His voice echoed in Greed's head.

Ed had made it to his feet, finally, and was now shaking out his right leg, and rubbing his hip and back on that side. Greed rolled his eyes.

"Why should I care?" He muttered to Ling. Ling disapproved. "What? So the kid's sore. We all are. I was never meant to sleep on the ground, princey." Ling still disapproved, and Greed let out a full body eye roll. Fine.

"Hey, what's eating you, kid?" He called out to Ed, not moving from his blankets. At least they cushioned the ground...a little.

Ed glanced over, and unstuck a hand from the joint of his hip to wave a little.

"Nothing. Just tired of sleeping in the dirt."

Greed sat back. "See! Nothing to worry about." He said to Ling. Ling didn't respond.

Ed, meanwhile, had stopped in his joint rubbing to put a hand over his chin. He hummed a little, frowning. Either he was deep in thought, or he had a stomach ache. Then strangely, he put a hand flat on top of his head, before flopping back down to the ground on his blankets, stretching out his legs in front of him.

"_What's he doing?" _Ling was asking.

Greed took another sip. Damn, it was getting cold. Ah, well, it was too bitter anyway.

"I have no idea."

Ed leaned forward, bending his torso over his straight legs, and felt along the bottoms of his socked feet. He prodded the metal one, and then the real one, and then jolted back, throwing his hands to the sky and whooping.

"Yeah! I knew I'd been growing!" He held up a hand, a space between two fingers that was probably five or six centimeters. He was grinning over at Greed, like he wanted Greed to get up and do a celebratory dance. No way in hell, pipsqueak.

"Congratulations…" Greed drawled, making sure to look extra bored. "You're almost as tall as a dwarf now."

He smirked as Ed shot to his feet again, no sign of the soreness now in his anger. He was apoplectic with rage, like always.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD FIT INSIDE AN ENVELOPE AND BE MAILED WITH ONLY ONE STAMP!?"

Ah, Greed just loved that. You'd think after a while, Ed would realize that he only said it to make him explode. It was just so fun! Ling thought so too. His earlier annoyance had vanished (which is why he was just a great body sharer) and he was chuckling at Ed's expense right along with Greed.

At Greed's laughter, Ed deflated with a huff, and dropped back down.

"You're awful." He pouted, going back to examining the foot.

"Hey, Ling thought it was funny too."

"_Yes, I did." _Ling congratulated himself and Greed. Ed wasn't amused.

"You're both awful."

Ed pulled out a roll of measuring tape (of course, the kid would have some on him, the nerd) and was taking off both socks, exposing one pale foot, and a line of metal toes. He reached forward again, to feel the difference, but when he bent down, and reached the legs would move slightly. It was enough to probably have felt that there was a difference, but obviously it wouldn't be an accurate reading on the tape.

Ed made a noise of frustration, and looked around the campsite. The other two who would have probably rescued him were nowhere to be seen, and since Greed had been up before Ed (early enough to get the coffee while it was hot) he knew that the two chimeras had gone to risk capture to find out what town they were near, and if they could buy some supplies. Both Greed and Ed had far too recognizable features. They'd be back in a while, but Greed wasn't going to tell Ed that.

Stewing for a moment, Ed dropped his eyes, and tried one more time to reach. No go. Then, he looked over at Greed.

"Can you help me out?"

Greed was already shaking his head. "No way. I'm not going near your smelly feet."

"_One of them is made of metal. It doesn't stink." _Ling interjected. "_I ate the boot off it once."_

"I do not want to know that story."

Ed was staring at him, pleading and annoyed.

"I need to transmute the leg longer, or I'm going to keep twisting up by hip and back. For that, I need to have an exact measurement, and I can't get close without moving." Ed explained in his 'I'm smarter than you voice'. The prick.

"Ugh! Fine!" Greed lumbered to his feet, and crouched in front of Ed. "What am I measuring." His voice was cranky and demanding, just how he liked it.

Rolling his eyes, Ed threw his hand in air. "Geez, don't let me put you out any."

Ling chuckled, and Greed felt absurdly ganged up on for the fact that one of them was literally inside his body with him.

"Hey, you asked for my help, you little bastard." Greed said, snapping the tape against Ed's leg. Ed grinned back, feral as a tom cat, and with the size complex to boot.

"Yeah, and you agreed to it." Ed straightened his legs back out, and pressed his heels together. "Just measure the difference, dumbass."

Greed grumbled, and took the damn tape, stretching it between Ed's metal heel, and the end of his real one.

"Six centimeters." He said.

"Precisely?" Ed pushed, and Greed growled, bending to measure again.

"Six point oh three two five. God."

Ed smiled, pleased with himself.

"No wonder I was hurting." He crowed, and pumped his fist. Then his face abruptly fell into a frown. "Aw, Winry's gonna be mad if I stretch it that much. Oh, well, it's not like I have a choice."

Greed stood, and tossed the tape into Ed's face.

"Uh oh, better not make your little girlfriend mad."

"She's not my girlfriend." Ed growled, snatching up the tape, and rolling it into a loop.

"Yeah, yeah, but you wouldn't say no, wouldja?"

Ed didn't respond, busying himself with pulling up the leg of his pants, to show the metal calf. Greed leaned down, pushing his grinning face into Ed's personal space.

"What if she said she wanted to make sweet love to you, all the night long?" Greed simpered, enjoying every shade of red that flooded Ed's face and neck. He didn't look up, staring at the metal leg.

"Shut up." His tone was forceful. Greed leaned back, and both he and Ling laughed hard. Ed scowled, and ignored them visibly, before clapping his hands and pressing them against the automail. There was a flash of transmutation light, and the calf and thigh both lengthened. The matched span made the previous shortage obvious, and Ed bounded to his feet to test out the change.

"Awesome." He said, kicking out his leg, and then walking in place. "I'll have to be careful. I had to weaken it a little to stretch the material so much, but it feels a lot better."

Greed turned away languidly, already bored now that Ed was distracted from his torment.

"Good for you. You learned how to walk."

Ed bristled, "Hey, I can walk just fi-!" but Greed cut him off with a final remark.

"And, I hate to break it to you, kid, but you're still short."

"GAAAAHHH!"

* * *

A/N: Hello! I just wanted to say, thanks for reading and for the response to my other fics. I've loved jumping into the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom, and I am having a blast so far. You guys are great!


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